After seven years, police have finally made an arrest in the murder of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright.
Billy Turner, 46, was charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday, according to documents obtained by Commercial Appeal.
Wright, a pro basketball star who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was found brutally murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, in July 2010.
Memphis police announced last month they had found a gun in a Mississippi lake about 75 miles east of the city that they believed to be connected with Wright’s murder, Commercial Appeal reports. Authorities then publicized an outstanding $21,000 reward for any information in regards to the basketball player’s murder.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office announced that Turner is being held on a $1 million bond and does not currently have a court date set for the suspect’s arraignment.
Wright was found July 28, 2010, 10 days after police dispatchers received a 911 call from his phone, which cut off after apparent gunshot sounds.
The 911 operator who picked up Wright’s call waited eight days to alert her supervisor about it, impeding police investigation. The NBA star’s body, found in a field, was so badly decomposed after days in the heat that an autopsy could not conclusively determine the number of gunshots Wright sustained.
Wright played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings over the course of 13 seasons in the NBA. He was drafted in 1996 by the Clippers and retired from basketball in 2009, shortly before his death.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports collaborated on a series investigating the circumstances of Wright’s death.